Lifebuoy from the ANNIE WATT

Datebefore 1974

Object number00007142

NameLifebuoy

MediumPlastic

DimensionsOverall: 100 x 720 mm; 1.2kg

ClassificationsVessels and fittings

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis lifebuoy is from the Tasmanian trading ketch ANNIE WATT, built by John Wilson at Port Esperance, Tasmania in 1870 for George Watt. Named for his daughter, today it is one of the earliest of only four that survive. The Wilson family were significant boat builders in the state over three generations. After a short period in Tasmania, ANNIE WATT's remaining working life was spent trading in South Australian waters as part of that state's well-known 'Mosquito fleet' of mixed trading vessels that worked in shallow areas of the St Vincent and Spencer Gulfs, carrying grain and salt to the major ports. It remained in service for 100 years. HistoryOn 10 December 1870 the Hobart Mercury newspaper carried a report on the new trading ketch: 'The barge arrived in port yesterday morning... and is a remarkably pretty model, well finished and appears likely to prove a smart sailor (sic); altogether the workmanship reflects great credit on the builder. She is constructed principally of red gum and pine with decks of Kauri pine.' George Watt used the ketch on the coastal run between Hobart and Port Cygnet in the Huon Valley for about three years. In January 1874 he sold ANNIE WATT to the South Australian Flour Milling Company, run by William Ferguson and Partners.